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Encyclopedia Britannica

HURON

This article appears in Volume V13, Page 959 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: HOR-I25

HURON , the second largest of the

Great

GREAT

Lakes of North America, including Georgian Bay and the channel north of Manitoulin

Island

ISLAND (O.E. ieg =isle, +land')

, which are always associated with it. It lies between the parallels of 430 and 46 20' N. and between the meridians of 8o and 84 W., and is bounded W. by the state of Michigan, and N. and E. by the province of Ontario, Georgian Bay and North Channel being wholly within Canadian territory. The main portion of the lake is 235 M. long from the Strait of Mackinac to St Clair river, and q8 m. wide on the 45th parallel of

latitude

LATITUDE (Lat. latitudo, latus, broad)

. Georgian Bay is 125 M. long, with a greatest width of 6o in., while North Channel is 120 M. long, with an extreme width of 16 m., the whole lake having an area of 23,200 sq. m. The surface is 581 ft. above the sea. The main lake reaches a depth of 802 ft.; Georgian bay shows depths, especially near its west shore, of over 300 ft.; North Channel has depths of 18o ft. Lake Huron is 20 ft. lower than Lake Superior, whose waters it receives at its northern extremity through St. Mary river, is on tiie same level as Lake Michigan, which connects with its north-west extremity through the Strait of Mackinac, and is nearly 9 ft. higher than Lake Erie, into which it discharges at its

south

SOUTH
SOUTH, ROBERT (1634–1716)

extremity through St Clair river.
pine and spruce or a scattered growth of small trees on a sandy soil. This shore is indented by Thunder bay, 78 sq. in. in area, and Saginaw bay, 50 M. deep and 26 m. wide across .its mouth.
The

chief

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

tributaries of the lake on the U.S. side are Thunder bay river, Au Sable river and Saginaw river. On the Canadian side are Serpent river, Spanish river, French river, draining Lake

Nipissing

NIPISSING

, Muskoka river, Severn river, draining lake Simcoe, and Nottawasaga river, all emptying into Georgian bay and North Channel, and Saugeen and Maitland rivers, flowing into the main lake. These have been or are largely used in connexion with pine lumbering operations. They, with smaller streams, drain a basin of 75,300 sq. m.
There is a slight current in Lake Huron skirting the west shore from inlet to outlet. At the

south

SOUTH
SOUTH, ROBERT (1634–1716)

end it turns and passes up the

east

EAST
EAST, ALFRED (1849- )

coast

COAST (from Lat. costa, a rib, side)

. There is also a return current south of Manitoulin

Island

ISLAND (O.E. ieg =isle, +land')

and a current, sometimes' attaining a strength of half a knot, passes into Georgian bay through the main entrance. Ice and navigation conditions and yearly levels are similar to those on the other

Great

GREAT

Lakes (q.v.).
Practically all the United States traffic is confined to vessels passing through the main lake between Lakes Superior and Michigan and Lake Erie, but on the Canadian side are several railway termini which receive grain mostly from Lake Superior, and deliver mixed freight to ports on that lake. The

chief

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

of these are Parry Sound, Midland, Victoria Harbour, Collingwood, Owen Sound, Southampton, Kincardine, Goderich and Sarnia, at the outlet of the lake. The construction of a ship canal to connect Georgian bay with Montreal by way of French river, Lake

Nipissing

NIPISSING

and Ottawa river began in 1910. A river and lake route with connecting canals, in all about 440 M. long, will be opened for vessels of 20 ft. draught at a cost estimated at 20,000,000 saving some 340 miles in the distance from Lake Superior or Lake Michigan to the sea.
There is a large fishing industry in Lake Huron, the Canadian catch being valued at over a quarter million dollars per annum. Salmon trout (Salvelinus namaycush, Walb.) and whitefish (Coregonus clupeiformis, Mitchill) are the most numerous and valuable. Amongst the islands on the

east

EAST
EAST, ALFRED (1849- )

shore of Georgian bay, which are greatly frequented as a summer resort, black

bass

(micropterus) and maskinonge (Esox nobilior, Le Sueur) are a great attraction to anglers.
See Georgian Bay and North Channel Pilot, Department of Marine and Fisheries (Ottawa, 1903) ; Sailing Directions for Lake Huron, Canadian Shore, Department of Marine and Fisheries (Ottawa, 1905); Bulletin No. 17, Survey of Northern and North-Western Lakes, United States, War Department (Washington, 1907) ; U.S. Hydro-graphic Office Publication, No. zo8 C. Sailing Directions for Lake Huron, &c. U.S. Navy Department (Washington, 19o1).

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